A Cdx4-Sall4 Regulatory Module Controls the Transition
from Mesoderm Formation to Embryonic Hematopoiesis
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Citation
Paik, Elizabeth J., Shaun Mahony, Richard M. White, Emily N.
Price, Anthony DiBiase, Bilguujin Dorjsuren, Christian Mosimann,
Alan J. Davidson, David Gifford, and Leonard I. Zon. “A Cdx4Sall4 Regulatory Module Controls the Transition from Mesoderm
Formation to Embryonic Hematopoiesis.” Stem Cell Reports 1,
no. 5 (November 2013): 425–436.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.10.001
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Elsevier
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Thu May 26 09:14:43 EDT 2016
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http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90547
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Stem Cell Reports
Ar ticle
A Cdx4-Sall4 Regulatory Module Controls the Transition from Mesoderm
Formation to Embryonic Hematopoiesis
Elizabeth J. Paik,1 Shaun Mahony,2 Richard M. White,3 Emily N. Price,1 Anthony DiBiase,1
Bilguujin Dorjsuren,1 Christian Mosimann,4 Alan J. Davidson,5 David Gifford,6 and Leonard I. Zon1,*
1Stem Cell Program and Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School and Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA
2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
3Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
4Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
5Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
6Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
*Correspondence: zon@enders.tch.harvard.edu
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2013.10.001
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works License, which
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SUMMARY
Deletion of caudal/cdx genes alters hox gene expression and causes defects in posterior tissues and hematopoiesis. Yet, the defects in hox
gene expression only partially explain these phenotypes. To gain deeper insight into Cdx4 function, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) combined with gene-expression profiling in zebrafish, and identified the transcription factor
spalt-like 4 (sall4) as a Cdx4 target. ChIP-seq revealed that Sall4 bound to its own gene locus and the cdx4 locus. Expression profiling
showed that Cdx4 and Sall4 coregulate genes that initiate hematopoiesis, such as hox, scl, and lmo2. Combined cdx4/sall4 gene knockdown impaired erythropoiesis, and overexpression of the Cdx4 and Sall4 target genes scl and lmo2 together rescued the erythroid program. These findings suggest that auto- and cross-regulation of Cdx4 and Sall4 establish a stable molecular circuit in the mesoderm
that facilitates the activation of the blood-specific program as development proceeds.
INTRODUCTION
Primitive hematopoietic progenitors arise from the yolk sac
in mammals and generate red blood cells (RBCs), thereby
providing oxygen to the rapidly developing embryos
(Orkin and Zon, 2008). In zebrafish, equivalent cells arise
from the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM), where anteriorly
located cells give rise to myeloid cells and posteriorly
located cells produce mostly RBCs. The first hematopoietic
progenitors appear bilaterally from the 2- to 3-somite stage
and express the transcription factor (TF) genes fli1a, scl, and
lmo2 (Liao et al., 1998; Thompson et al., 1998). By the 5somite stage, posterior LPM cells are specified to the RBC
lineage expressing gata1 (Davidson et al., 2003; Detrich
et al., 1995). As embryos develop, these bilateral stripes
merge, creating the intermediate cell mass (ICM) region
(Detrich et al., 1995). By 24 hr postfertilization (hpf), the
embryonic RBCs start circulating.
Cdx4, a member of the caudal family, has been linked
to embryonic hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis (Bansal
et al., 2006; Davidson et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2005). The
Cdx genes encode homeodomain-containing TFs that are
known as master regulators of the Hox genes, and help
establish the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis (Pownall et al.,
1996; Subramanian et al., 1995). Mammals have three
paralogs of the Cdx family (Cdx1, Cdx2, and Cdx4) that
are expressed in the posterior tissues of the embryo (Young
and Deschamps, 2009). Targeted knockout of Cdx genes
demonstrated their roles in paraxial mesoderm, neurectoderm, and endoderm formation in mice (Chawengsaksophak et al., 2004; Gao et al., 2009; van den Akker et al.,
2002; van Nes et al., 2006; Young et al., 2009). For example,
Cdx2/4 compound knockout mice show a truncated axial
skeleton, decreased presomitic mesoderm, and defective
caudal hindgut endoderm and placenta, indicating that
Cdx genes function redundantly in mesendodermal tissue
formation (van Nes et al., 2006; Young et al., 2009). Zebrafish also have three cdx paralogs: cdx1a, cdx1b, and cdx4.
cdx4/ embryos display shortened tail and neurectoderm
defects, which are enhanced when cdx1a is also knocked
down (Davidson et al., 2003; Davidson and Zon, 2006;
Shimizu et al., 2006).
Zebrafish cdx4/ embryos display a severe anemia, with
decreased levels of scl, lmo2, and gata1 expression in the
posterior LPM (Davidson et al., 2003). This function of
Cdx4 in hematopoiesis is conserved in murine embryonic
stem cells (ESCs), where Cdx4 overexpression increases
erythroid, megakaryocyte, granulocyte, and macrophage
lineage formation (Wang et al., 2005). Compound Cdx
knockout in murine ESCs also leads to failures in hematopoietic differentiation (Wang et al., 2008). In addition to
embryonic hematopoiesis, Cdx members are implicated
in leukemogenesis, as shown by CDX2 translocations in
acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, and leukemia
Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors 425
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
seen in mice with Cdx4 overexpression in bone marrow
(Bansal et al., 2006; Scholl et al., 2007).
Many of the functions of Cdx have been linked to its
ability to regulate Hox gene transcription (Young and
Deschamps, 2009). However, an impact on Hox gene regulation does not explain all the defects in Cdx mutants. For
example, conditional Cdx2 knockout mice show defects in
endoderm and presomitic mesoderm formation independently of Hox genes (Gao et al., 2009; Savory et al., 2009a).
In addition, overexpression of anterior hox genes does
not rescue the hindbrain defects seen in cdx4//cdx1amo
zebrafish (Skromne et al., 2007). These results suggest that
Cdx function cannot be explained solely by Hox genes,
and there must be other critical downstream genes.
Advances in chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing
(ChIP-seq) technology have helped investigators decipher
complex transcriptional networks in many biological systems in a global manner. In ESCs, ChIP-seq experiments
revealed that Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, and Sall4 share cis-regulatory modules and regulate each other to maintain pluripotency (Lim et al., 2008; Loh et al., 2006). Similar global
studies were conducted in developing Drosophila and
zebrafish embryos (Morley et al., 2009; Sandmann et al.,
2006, 2007). Here, we used a genome-wide approach to
identify direct Cdx4 target genes in zebrafish embryos
by implementing ChIP-seq and microarray expression
profiling. We show that the zinc-finger TF gene sall4 is a
downstream target of Cdx4. ChIP-seq analysis of Sall4 similarly demonstrates that it binds to its own promoter and
cdx4 regulatory elements. Gene-expression studies demonstrate that Cdx4 and Sall4 directly activate hox genes and
hematopoietic genes. Cdx4 and Sall4 genetically interact
during ventral mesoderm development, consistent with a
role for these TFs in the early expression of hematopoietic
TFs. Together, these results suggest that auto- and crossregulatory interactions between cdx4 and sall4, as well as
coactivation of common gene targets, establish a key regulatory module that directs the transition of the mesoderm
into blood.
RESULTS
Identification of Direct Cdx4 Downstream Target
Genes
To identify direct Cdx4 downstream target genes, we
conducted ChIP-seq using zebrafish embryos in the bud
stage, the stage just prior to the emergence of fli1a+, scl+,
and lmo2+ hematopoietic progenitors. Since ChIP-quality
zebrafish Cdx4 antibodies were not available, a fulllength, C-terminally myc-tagged zebrafish Cdx4 was
overexpressed and myc antibodies were used for immunoprecipitation. This technique has been used successfully for
Nanog ChIP-seq analysis in zebrafish (Xu et al., 2012). To
reduce nonspecific Cdx4 binding, cdx4-myc mRNA was
injected at a dose that rescued cdx4/ animals but
did not cause morphological changes in cdx4+/ animals
(Figure S1A available online).
Cdx4 ChIP-seq yielded 5,166 binding events, which corresponded to 1,343 proximal genes (distance to the transcriptional start site: ±10 kb). De novo motif analysis using
the top 500 bound sequences gave an ATAAA motif, which
was reported as the Cdx2 consensus DNA-binding motif
(Figure 1A; Nishiyama et al., 2009; Verzi et al., 2010). The
Cdx family members share a highly similar homeodomain
and are functionally redundant (Savory et al., 2009b). The
most well-known targets of the Cdx family members are
Hox genes (Charité et al., 1998; Knittel et al., 1995; Subramanian et al., 1995), and strong Cdx4 binding was found
across all seven clusters of hox genes in the zebrafish
genome (Figures 1B and S1B). Cdx4 bound to its own locus,
suggesting possible autoregulation (Figure 1C).
Binding to specific signaling pathways and gene programs does not necessarily mean that Cdx4 regulates their
transcription at the time of the analysis. To demonstrate
that Cdx4 binding to these loci leads to transcriptional
changes during the LPM-to-hematopoietic transition, we
evaluated gene expression by microarrays. Given the
redundancy between Cdx4 and Cdx1a, we used 2-somite
stage embryos coinjected with cdx4 and cdx1a morpholinos (cdx4mo/cdx1amo) because these embryos display the
most severe loss-of-Cdx-function phenotype (Davidson
and Zon, 2006). To systematically compare the ChIP-seq
target list with the microarray data, we ranked differentially regulated genes in the cdx4mo/cdx1amo microarray
data using the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and
compared them with Cdx4 binding (Subramanian et al.,
2005). This analysis showed that the Cdx4-bound genes
were highly downregulated in the cdx4mo/cdx1amo microarray (normalized enrichment score [NES] = 1.76, false discovery rate [FDR] = 0.1; Figure S1C), suggesting that Cdx4
works as a transcriptional activator, consistent with data
previously reported with Cdx2 (Nishiyama et al., 2009;
Verzi et al., 2011). For example, 26 of the 44 Cdx4-bound
hox genes and the Cdx4 bound-Wnt pathway genes,
including axin1, axin2, and wnt5b, were all downregulated,
confirming the Cdx4 ChIP-seq data (Figure S1D). These
results suggest that a subset of the Cdx4-binding sites
detected by ChIP-seq is indeed transcriptionally regulated
by Cdx4.
sall4 Is a Direct Downstream Target of Cdx4
spalt-like 4 (sall4) was strongly downregulated in cdx4mo/
cdx1amo and bound by Cdx4 (Figures 1D and S1E). The spalt
gene was first identified in Drosophila, where its mutation
caused homeotic changes in the posterior head and
426 Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors
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Figure 1. Cdx4 and Sall4 Bind to Each
Other’s Genomic Locus
(A) Cdx4-binding sites are enriched for the
ATAAA motif. The most enriched motif was
identified using MEME (Bailey and Elkan,
1994).
(B) Gene track of the hox aa locus, showing
Cdx4 binding at genomic regions along the
x axis and the total number of reads on the
y axis.
(C) Gene track of the cdx4 locus, showing
Cdx4 binding to its own locus.
(D) Gene track of the sall4 locus, showing
Cdx4 binding to sall4 locus.
(E) WISH of sall4 mRNA expression level
in 10-somite stage wild-type embryos and
cdx4mo/cdx1amo. Scale bar = 200 mm.
(F) Sall4-binding sites are enriched for the
ATTTGCAT motif, an Oct4 motif.
(G) Gene track of the pou5f1 locus, showing
Sall4 binding.
(H) Gene track of sall4 and cdx4 loci,
showing Sall4 binding.
See also Figure S1.
anterior tail region (Frei et al., 1988; Jürgens, 1988). Its
homologs are highly expressed in the developing tail tip
region in both chickens and frogs (Barembaum and Bronner-Fraser, 2004; Neff et al., 2005). In addition, SALL4
transgenic mice develop AML, reminiscent of mice that
were transplanted with mCdx4-transduced bone marrow
(Bansal et al., 2006; Ma et al., 2006). Because the cdx homolog, caudal, is involved in homeotic switches in Drosophila
and is highly enriched in the posterior region, the sall4
gene made an excellent candidate to act downstream of
cdx4.
To validate the microarray data indicating that a loss
of Cdx function leads to decreased sall4 transcription, we
conducted whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH)
was conducted in 10-somite stage cdx4mo/cdx1amo embryos.
sall4 expression was downregulated in these embryos,
consistent with the Cdx factors directly regulating sall4
transcription (Figure 1E). We also found that cdx4 and
sall4 are spatially and temporally coexpressed (Figure S1F).
Taken together, these results strongly suggest that Cdx4
regulates sall4 transcription during zebrafish development.
Sall4 Binds to the cdx4 Locus
To examine Sall4 downstream target genes, we conducted
ChIP-seq on bud-stage zebrafish embryos injected with
100 pg of sall4-myc mRNA, which does not cause morphological defects (Figure S1G). Sall4 ChIP-seq resulted in
9,747 binding events that corresponded to 1,832 proximal
genes. De novo motif analysis gave the ATTTGCAT motif,
which is known as the Oct4 motif (Figure 1F; Loh et al.,
2006). In addition, Sall4-myc bound to the oct4/pou5f1
locus, consistent with reports showing that Sall4 is a part
of the core ESC complex with Oct4 (Figure 1G; Rao et al.,
2010; van den Berg et al., 2010; Wu et al., 2006). Sall4 binds
to its own locus, suggesting autoregulation, and to the cdx4
locus, indicating cross-regulatory interactions between
Sall4 and Cdx4 (Figures 1H and S1H).
Cdx4 and Sall4 Coregulate Genes Responsible for the
Mesoderm-to-Blood Transition
The Sall4 ChIP-seq analysis showed a substantial overlap in
binding sites with Cdx4 across the genome (Figure 2A).
When we compared the Cdx4-Sall4 cobound sites with
the bud-stage zebrafish histone ChIP-seq data, we found
that 44% of these sites overlapped with H3K27ac-enriched
domains, whereas only 1.4% overlapped with H3K4me3enriched domains. This indicates that Cdx4 and Sall4
cobinding corresponds to active enhancers (Figure 2B;
Rada-Iglesias et al., 2011). A Gene Ontology (GO) analysis
of the Cdx4-Sall4 cobound gene list revealed that the
cobound group is enriched with genes associated with
pattern specification and embryonic morphogenesis
(Figure 2C).
To determine whether Cdx4 and Sall4 cobinding leads to
a cooperative transcriptional output, we obtained geneexpression data from cdx4mo, sall4mo, and cdx4mo/sall4mo
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
Figure 2. Cdx4 and Sall4 Coregulate Downstream Target Genes
(A) Genome-wide Cdx4 and Sall4 binding events. The two columns show enrichment over all Sall4 and Cdx4 binding sites, where the blue
shading corresponds to the ChIP-seq read count in the region.
(B) Cdx4- and Sall4-bound regions are associated with H3K27ac histone marks. The bar graph shows the relative overlap of Cdx4-bound,
Sall4-bound, and Cdx4-Sall4-cobound regions with H3K27ac (enhancer) and H3K4me3 (promoter) marks compared with background
expectation. The overlap enrichment score calculates the percentage of bound sites that overlap (or are within 100 bp of) a chromatin mark
domain and normalizes by the percentage of 10,000 random genomic sites that overlap (or are within 100 bp of) the same chromatin mark
domains.
(C) GO Analysis of the Cdx4-Sall4 Cobound Genes
(D) Heatmap demonstrating the top 1,000 genes that show cooperation between the cdx4 and sall4 knockdown at the 10-somite stage.
Genes that are only moderately affected in either single morphant show significantly greater effects in the 10-somite stage cdx4mo/sall4mo.
(E and F) GSEA-based comparison between cdx4mo/sall4mo and known hematopoietic gene signatures.
(E) Comparison between cdx4/sall4 and the GFP+ population from t10-somite stage Tg(fli1a:GFP) embryos.
(F) Comparison with genes downregulated in the 5-somite stage sclmo. In both cases, the hematopoietic signature is strongly enriched in
cdx4mo/sall4mo compared with control embryos.
See also Figure S2.
embryos. To examine whether knockdown of both genes
leads to a greater transcriptional change compared with
single knockdowns, we compared the expression level in
the double morphants with that in the single morphants
(see Experimental Procedures for details). In both the 3and 10-somite stage embryos, the double morphants
exhibited enhanced down- or upregulation of mRNA
expression compared with the single morphants (Figures
3D and S2A). At the 10-somite stage, the top ten most
downregulated genes from double morphants included
hox genes, indicating that in addition to being cobound
to the hox gene loci, Cdx4 and Sall4 cooperate to regulate
the hox gene transcriptional program (Figure S2B). In addition, these double morphants exhibit downregulation
of non-hox gene members such as gfi1.1 and morc3b
(Figure S2B).
428 Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
cell sorting (FACS) or morphants deficient in blood. The
gene signature of the fli1a:GFP+ cells (the sorted population from the 10-somite stage Tg(fli1a:GFP) that express
GFP in both blood and endothelial cells; Lawson and Weinstein, 2002) was highly enriched in the cdx4mo/sall4mo
gene-expression set (NES = 2.50, FDR = 0.0; Figure 3D).
Genes that were downregulated in the sclmo (which lacks
a hemangioblast population; Dooley et al., 2005; Patterson
et al., 2005) were also strongly enriched in the cdx4mo/
sall4mo (NES = 1.87, FDR = 0.0; Figure 3E). To determine
whether the cdx4mo/sall4moenrichment was specific to
blood, was conducted additional GSEAs using endothelial
(Wong et al., 2009), renal (O’Brien et al., 2011; Wingert
and Davidson, 2011; Wingert et al., 2007), muscle (de la
Serna et al., 2005), and neuron (Lein et al., 2007) gene
sets (Figures S2C–S2F). Among these, only the endothelial
gene set showed significant enrichment (NES = 2.47,
FDR = 0.0; Figure S2C). This result is not surprising, because
blood and endothelial populations share common TFs,
especially during primitive hematopoiesis (Davidson and
Zon, 2004). In contrast, the enrichment scores for other
gene sets were not significant, indicating that cdx4mo/
sall4mo embryos show more specific defects in the hemangioblast population (Figures S2D–S2F). Taken together, the
ChIP-seq and microarray data indicate that Cdx4 and Sall4
coregulate a set of genes involved in both embryonic
pattern formation and primitive hematopoiesis.
Figure 3. sall4 Cooperates with cdx4 in Zebrafish Hematopoiesis
(A) gata1 WISH of 18-somite-stage wild-type or cdx4/ embryos
that were uninjected or sall4mo injected. sall4 knockdown in the
cdx4/ background leads to a decrease in gata1+ cells (note the
high-powered view).
(B) o-Dianisidine staining of 3 dpf wild-type or cdx4/ embryos
that were uninjected or sall4mo injected. cdx4//sall4mo embryos
have fewer hemoglobinized RBCs. Arrows point to the stained RBCs
in the embryos. Scale bar, 200 mm.
See also Figure S3.
We noted that a number of genes affected in the double
morphants were those that are typically associated with
primitive hematopoiesis (e.g., gata1, gfi1.1, and znfl2) (Detrich et al., 1995; Galloway et al., 2008; Wei et al., 2008). To
globally address whether double morphants show defects
in hematopoiesis, we used GSEA to compare the genes
affected in cdx4mo/sall4mo with the gene signatures of
hematopoietic cells subjected to fluorescence-activated
sall4 and cdx4 Functionally Interact during the
Formation of RBCs
To demonstrate that sall4 functionally interacts with
cdx4 during embryonic hematopoiesis, sall4 was knocked
down in cdx4/ embryos. cdx4+/ zebrafish were crossed
and sall4mo was injected into one-cell-stage embryos
(Davidson et al., 2003; Harvey and Logan, 2006). Knockdown of sall4 in either a cdx4+/+ or cdx4+/ background
resulted in a slight shortening of the A-P axis by 28 hpf,
but had no effect on erythropoiesis.
Because cdx4/ have fewer gata1+ cells in the ICM
region and fewer RBCs later, we examined these phenotypes in sall4 knockdowns in the background of cdx4+/+,
cdx4+/, and cdx4/ embryos. At the 18-somite stage, the
cdx4/sall4mo embryos had fewer gata1+ cells compared
with the uninjected cdx4/ embryos (Figure 3A). The
cdx4+/+/sall4mo or cdx4+//sall4mo embryos did not show a
decrease in gata1. Although the hematopoietic defect in
the cdx4//sall4mo embryos was not as severe as that
shown in the cdx4mo/cdx1amo embryos that completely
lack gata1 (Davidson and Zon, 2006), these studies indicate
that Sall4 and Cdx4 functionally interact during erythroid
progenitor formation (Figure 3A).
The injected embryos were grown to 3 days postfertilization (dpf), and o-dianisidine staining was conducted to
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
Figure 4. scl and lmo2 Are Responsible for the Loss of RBCs Seen in cdx4/;sall4mo Embryos.
(A and B) scl (A) and lmo2 (B) WISH at the 10-somite stage wild-type or cdx4/ embryos that are either uninjected or sall4mo injected.
Embryos were flat-mounted, with the anterior end pointing to the left and the posterior end pointing to the right.
(C) fli1a, draculin, pax2a, myoD, and tbx16 WISH in 10-somite stage wild-type, cdx4mo, sall4mo, cdx4mo/sall4mo embryos. All scale bars,
200 mm.
(D and E) Gene track of the scl (D) and lmo2 (E) loci, showing Cdx4 and Sall4 binding.
See also Figure S4.
examine hemoglobinized RBCs (Ransom et al., 1996).
As previously reported (Davidson et al., 2003), cdx4/
embryos showed a decreased number of hemoglobinized
RBCs compared with wild-type or cdx4+/ embryos. When
sall4mo was injected, these cdx4/ embryos showed even
fewer hemoglobinized RBCs, consistent with sall4 cooperating with cdx4 during erythropoiesis (Figure 3B, arrow).
The posterior mesoderm was also critically affected in
cdx4//sall4mo embryos, as evidenced by the size of the
tail (Figure S3).
Loss of scl and lmo2 Is Responsible for the Lack of RBCs
in cdx4//sall4mo Embryos
The loss of RBCs seen in the cdx4//sall4mo embryos could
be caused by an earlier defect in LPM differentiation. The
TF Scl and its cofactor Lmo2 are key determinants of
hematopoietic precursors that are expressed as bilateral
stripes in the LPM at the 3-somite stage (Liao et al., 1998;
Thompson et al., 1998). Loss of scl or lmo2 in the zebrafish
leads to a lack of RBCs (Dooley et al., 2005; Patterson et al.,
2005, 2007). At the 10-somite stage, cdx4/ embryos displayed only a few posterior scl+ and lmo2+ cells, whereas
cdx4//sall4mo embryos showed no detectable scl or lmo2
expression (Figure 4A). This suggests that early hematopoietic progenitors do not form properly in cdx4//sall4mo
embryos. In contrast, cdx4mo/sall4mo embryos have fli1a+
and draculin+ cells in the LPM, indicating that the general
lateral mesoderm is present in these embryos. myoD
(somite), pax2a (kidney), and tbx16 (presomitic mesoderm)
expression is minimally affected, showing that cdx4 and
430 Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
sall4 specifically affect early hematopoietic progenitors
(Figure 4B; Kimmel et al., 1989; Majumdar et al., 2000;
Weinberg et al., 1996). In accordance with a putative regulatory role in scl and lmo2 transcription, both the Cdx4 and
Sall4 ChIP-seq profiles showed both factors binding near
the scl and lmo2 loci, which was confirmed by ChIP-PCR
analysis (Figures 5C, 5D, and S4).
To determine whether this early block in scl and lmo2
expression is responsible for the RBC loss in cdx4//sall4mo
embryos, we overexpressed scl and lmo2 in transgenic
zebrafish carrying the globin lcr:GFP reporter (Ganis et al.,
2012; Figure 5A). The scl and lmo2 genes, together with
a control plasmid, were driven under the control of the
ubi promoter (Mosimann et al., 2011) and injected
mo
into cdx4 /sall4mo/Tg(lcr:GFP) embryos. The ubi:mCherry
plasmid was used as an additional control to assess injection mosaicism. As expected, injection of these plasmids
led to ubiquitous expression of transgenes (Figure S5). In
line with our previous results, cdx4mo/sall4mo/Tg(lcr:GFP)
embryos lacked lcr:GFP expression, which could not be
rescued with control plasmid injection or ubi:scl injection
(Figure 5B, top and middle rows). In contrast, ubi:scl;
ubi:lmo2 double injection in cdx4mo/sall4mo embryos led
to lcr:GFP expression in the ICM (n = 9/21; Figure 5B, bottom row), as well as gata1 expression (n = 23/49; Figure 5C),
indicating that scl and lmo2 can rescue the erythropoietic
defects caused by Cdx4 and Sall4 deficiency. Taken
together, these results reveal that cdx4 and sall4 genetically
interact in a regulatory circuit involving cross- and autoregulation to control the expression of TFs involved in mesodermal and hematopoietic lineage specification.
DISCUSSION
Figure 5. Overexpression of scl and lmo2 Rescues the Loss of
RBCs in the cdx4mo/sall4mo Embryos
(A) DNA-mediated overexpression scheme using Tg(lcr:GFP) embryos that express GFP in globin+ RBCs. When the embryos reached
the 18-somite stage, mCherry+ embryos were selected and their GFP
expression and gata1 expression were examined.
(B) cdx4mo/sall4mo/Tg(lcr:GFP) embryos that were control plasmid
injected (top), ubi:scl injected (middle), or ubi:scl; ubi:lmo2
injected (bottom). The mCherry+ cells show the mosaicism. Note
the GFP+ cells in the ICM (white arrow) in the bottom row.
The numbers indicate the number of embryos with GFP signal in
the ICM.
(C) gata1 WISH of embryos shown in (B). The numbers indicate the
number of embryos with gata1 signal in the ICM.
All scale bars, 200 mm. See also Figure S5.
Our findings illustrate a transcriptional circuit involving
Cdx4 and Sall4 that is required for the developmental transition from mesoderm to blood formation in zebrafish. By
integrating ChIP-seq and expression profiling data from
zebrafish embryos, we show that Sall4 shares multiple common target genes with Cdx4, including the TFs themselves,
hox genes, scl, and lmo2. Consistent with this finding,
the cdx4//sall4mo embryos exhibit enhanced defects in
embryonic hematopoiesis compared with cdx4/ embryos,
which can be overcome by scl and lmo2 overexpression.
sall4 deficiency alone does not affect embryonic erythropoiesis, but it cooperates with the cdx4 mutant phenotype
as shown by microarray, loss of RBCs, and severe tail truncation (Figures 2, 3, S2A, and S3). Similarly, the cdx1amo has
a mild phenotype, but cdx4//cdx1amo embryos show a
more severe axial truncation and a complete loss of erythropoiesis compared with cdx4/ (Davidson and Zon,
2006). This finding is attributed to redundancy between
Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors 431
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A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
Figure 6. Model
Cdx4 and Sall4 autoregulate and cross-regulate each other (Sall4to-Cdx4 regulation is dotted because it is unclear whether Sall4
regulates Cdx4 transcription). They regulate the LPM-to-blood
transition in two ways: (1) they regulate hox genes for mesoderm
specification, and (2) they regulate scl and lmo2 for blood
specification.
Cdx1a and Cdx4, given that Cdx paralogs compensate for
each other (Savory et al., 2009b). Sall4 shares activities
with the Cdx factors, and Sall4 binding likely enhances
the transcriptional activity of Cdx-containing complexes
on cobound target genes (Figure 2). Sall4 activates target
genes synergistically with other TFs, such as Tcf4 and
beta-catenin in gastrula-stage mouse embryos, and with
Tbx5 in the heart and forelimb field (Koshiba-Takeuchi
et al., 2006; Uez et al., 2008). In addition, Sall4 physically
binds with Cdx2 in murine ESCs (Nishiyama et al., 2009),
potentially supporting a model whereby Cdx factors and
Sall4, each bound to their respective DNA consensus motifs
on common targets, are able to form an enhanceosome
(Nishiyama et al., 2009). Our ChIP-seq data demonstrate
cobinding on DNA, suggesting that this interaction regulates the transition from mesoderm to the blood lineage.
The transcriptional program in the mesoderm adapts
to the progressive development of the final descendant
organs. During zebrafish development, cdx4 is highly expressed in the future mesodermal progenitor cells during
the early gastrula stage, and its expression overlaps with
that of hematopoietic genes at the 3-somite stage. By the
5-somite stage, cdx4 is expressed in the paraxial mesoderm,
diverging from that of hematopoietic genes. Our ChIP-seq
result suggests that during the gastrula stage, a Cdx4-Sall4
circuit regulates genes (e.g., hox genes) that drive cells to
adopt a posterior mesodermal fate, which by the late gastrula stage allows Cdx4 to drive the expression of hematopoietic genes (Figure 2). Although the mild decrease in the
expression of nonhematopoietic genes such as pax2a and
tbx16 in cdx4mo/sall4mo embryos raises the question as to
whether cdx4 and sall4 specifically affect hematopoietic
tissues, these embryos still have a normal amount of
fli1a+ draculin+ cells, indicating that the LPM formation
is normal (Figure 4).
Scl and Lmo2 are key hematopoietic TFs whose deficiency
cause severe anemia (Dooley et al., 2005; Patterson et al.,
2005; Shivdasani et al., 1995; Warren et al., 1994). As scl
overexpression could not rescue the gata1 loss seen in
cdx4/, it has been hypothesized that Cdx4 acts to make
the posterior mesoderm competent to respond to genes
that specify the hematopoietic fate (Davidson et al.,
2003). An alternative model would include the possibility
that other Cdx4 target genes participate in hematopoietic
induction. One intriguing possibility is that Scl is insufficient to rescue the cdx4/ because it lacks the Scl cofactor,
Lmo2. Our ChIP-seq and ChIP-PCR data demonstrate that
scl and lmo2 genes are bound by Cdx4 and Sall4, and
expression of scl and lmo2 is reduced in cdx4//sall4mo (Figures 4A, 4C, 4D, and S4). Our rescue data show that scl in
combination with lmo2 can drive erythropoiesis genes in
the cdx4mo/sall4mo, indicating that lmo2 is another key factor that is responsible for the loss of RBCs (Figure 5). The
lack of gata1 rescue to the wild-type level shows that there
could be other additional Cdx4 and Sall4 targets. A recent
ChIP study showed that Lmo2 transcription in hematopoietic cells is regulated by HoxA9 (Huang et al., 2012). Our
results suggest that Cdx4 and Sall4 regulate hoxa9a transcription in zebrafish (Figure S2B). This suggests that lmo2
could be regulated in a tightly controlled manner during
the differentiation of LPM to blood, directly by Cdx4 and
Sall4, and secondarily by another Cdx4 and Sall4 target
gene, Hoxa9a. We speculate that this type of transcriptional loop ensures a robust activation of the blood
program.
Our ChIP-seq data indicate that Cdx4 and Sall4 engage in
auto- and cross-regulatory loops. Such regulatory circuits
are frequently seen during embryonic development. For
example, during segmentation of rhombomere 4 in the
mouse hindbrain, retinoic acid signaling first turns on
HoxB1, followed by HoxB1, HoxB2, and HoxA2, maintaining their expression through tight auto- and cross-regulatory loops (Agarwal et al., 2011; Gavalas et al., 2003; Tümpel
et al., 2007). The Cdx4-Sall4 circuit during zebrafish development may function in an analogous way with upstream
regulators such as Wnt, BMP, and FGF, activating expression of Cdx4 and Sall4, followed by the stabilization of
their expression by auto- and cross-regulatory loops. We
hypothesize that a stable Cdx4-Sall4 circuit is required to
make the mesoderm competent for the specification of
posterior tissue lineages such as blood by turning on the
hematopoietic master TFs Scl and Lmo2 (Figure 6).
Our current model also gives insights into leukemogenesis. Previously, Hox gene misregulation was the main
focus of attempts to understand the mechanism behind
Cdx genes causing leukemia (Bansal et al., 2006; Scholl
et al., 2007). Our current model suggests another possibility, i.e., that Cdx genes directly regulate Scl and Lmo2. As
mutation of both of these genes has been linked to various
leukemias, such as T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(Bash et al., 1995; Boehm et al., 1991; Royer-Pokora et al.,
432 Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors
Stem Cell Reports
A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
1991), the model raises the possibility that these two genes
may be aberrantly regulated in leukemias that are caused by
Cdx or Sall4 mutation.
In conclusion, our data establish a Cdx4-Sall4 circuit that
acts in the posterior mesoderm to facilitate blood cell formation and axial elongation. We propose that during the
early gastrula stage, Cdx4 and Sall4 are activated by upstream regulators such as Wnt, and their auto- and crossregulation act to stabilize the mesoderm state. At the end
of gastrulation, Cdx4 and Sall4 bind to scl and lmo2 to
induce the hematopoietic program in the mesoderm. As
upstream signaling dissipates, the Cdx4-Sall4 regulatory
loops are disrupted, with a concomitant reduction in cdx4
and sall4 expression, and further blood differentiation is
driven by factors such as Scl and Lmo2 (Figure 6). This
model is likely applicable to the formation of other tissues
and provides a molecular framework to understand how
Cdx and Sall factors induce leukemia.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Zebrafish
Zebrafish were maintained according to Institutional Animal Care
and Use Committee guidelines. The Animal Care and Use Committee of Boston Children’s Hospital approved all of the animal protocols. Wild-type (Tu) and cdx4+/ incrossed embryos were collected
at the one-cell stage and injected with mRNA or morpholino for
further experiments.
mRNA
cdx4 and sall4 cDNA was described previously (Davidson et al.,
2003; Harvey and Logan, 2006). mRNA was generated by the
mMessage mMachine kit and injected into one-cell-stage embryos.
Microarray Analysis
Embryos were injected with either cdx4 or sall4, or both morpholinos together. Injected embryos, along with uninjected control
embryos, were harvested at the 3- or 10-somite stage and RNA
was prepared for microarray. For the arrays in these experiments,
we used the prerelease Affymetrix Zebrafish 2.0 array, which was
developed in the Zon laboratory in cooperation with Affymetrix.
The cdx4mo/cdx1amo data set was generated on the Affymetrix
Zebrafish 1.0 array. Detailed information on microarray analysis
can be found in the Supplemental Experimental Procedures.
GSEA Analysis
Enrichment of Cdx4-Bound Genes in the cdx4/cdx1a
Double-Morphant Gene-Expression Set
The fli1a:GFP or sclmo gene lists were used as input to GSEA for
queries into the entire cdx4mo/sall4mo microarray data set. In this
case, because the cdx4mo/sall4mo arrays were performed using the
Zebrafish Affymetrix 2.0 arrays, we used the Zv9 gene identifier
as the input for GSEA. For endothelial, kidney, muscle, and neuron
gene sets, the annotated gene list was probed. Enrichment of the
double morphant compared with control embryos was calculated
using the NES and FDR as described above. Detailed information
regarding the gene list sources can be found in the Supplemental
Experimental Procedures.
WISH and o-Dianisidine Staining
ChIP
ChIP was performed as previously described (Lee et al., 2006;
Lindeman et al., 2009). For detailed information, see the
Supplemental Experimental Procedures. myc (abcam ab9132),
H3K4me3 (Millipore 07-473), and H3K27ac (abcam ab4729) antibodies were used at 5 mg per ChIP sample.
ChIP-Seq Analysis
Sequence reads were aligned to the genome (danRer6) using Bowtie version 0.12.7 with options ‘‘-q–best–strata -m 1 -p 4–chunkmbs
1024’’ (Langmead et al., 2009). Only uniquely mapping reads were
analyzed further. Binding events were detected using GPS as previously described (Guo et al., 2010). For detailed information on
ChIP-seq analysis, see the Supplemental Experimental Procedures.
The ChIP-seq data have been deposited in the GEO database under
accession number GSE48254.
ChIP-PCR Analysis
Primers were designed for cdx4, sall4, scl, and lmo2 loci (listed in
Table S1). Quantities are expressed as fold change compared with
input controls.
Morpholinos
One-cell-stage embryos were injected with sall4mo (2 ng; Harvey
and Logan, 2006), cdx4mo (1.5 ng), or cdx1amo (0.5 ng).
WISH and o-dianisidine staining were performed as previously
described (Ransom et al., 1996; Thisse et al., 1993). The gata1,
sall4, scl, lmo2, fli1a, myoD, draculin, pax2a, tbx16, and morc3b
probes were described in previous publications (Detrich et al.,
1995; Kimmel et al., 1989; Liao et al., 1998; Majumdar et al.,
2000; Thompson et al., 1998; Weinberg et al., 1996).
DNA Injection
For DNA injection, 1 nl of a 16 ng/ml DNA mixture was injected
into one-cell-stage embryos. For detailed information on the plasmids used, see the Supplemental Experimental Procedures and
Table S2.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Supplemental Information includes Supplemental Experimental
Procedures, five figures, and two tables and can be found
with this article online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.
2013.10.001.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank members of the Zon laboratory for helpful discussions, J.
Ganis for providing Tg(lcr:GFP), and M. Logan for providing the
sall4 cDNA construct. We also thank the Whitehead Genome Technology Core for data production and analysis support. Microarray
Stem Cell Reports j Vol. 1 j 425–436 j November 19, 2013 j ª2013 The Authors 433
Stem Cell Reports
A Cdx4-Sall4 Module in Embryonic Hematopoiesis
studies were performed by the Molecular Genetics Core Facility at
Children’s Hospital Boston, supported by NIH grants P50-NS40828
and P30-HD18655. This work was supported by grants from the
NHLBI (5R01HL048801-21 to L.I.Z. and 5P01HL32262-31),
NIDDK (5P30 DK49126-19, DK53298-15, and R24 DK09276002), and HHMI (to L.I.Z.). L.I.Z. is a founder and stockholder of
Fate, Inc., and Scholar Rock, and a scientific advisor for Stemgent.
Received: February 26, 2013
Revised: October 1, 2013
Accepted: October 2, 2013
Published: November 7, 2013
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